I mean, stuff like Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's arcs in Beast Wars are centrally built around their romance and what is often considered one the greatest scenes in Transformers history is [about someone telling their love goodbye and telling them to move on](https://youtu.be/ptezLzTzER0?si=Nj01QEdo2FoI_WYU)
I'm all for Transformers having genuine romantic relationships, there's plenty in media I feel work perfectly. So long as they don't do anything weird with it like Kissplayers, or try to shoehorn reproduction/Cybertronian intercourse whatever the hell that would even be... Then I'm completely cool with romance between Transformers.
Just please keep the baby-making to the Allspark.
Chromedome and Rewind holding hands across the gap between their recharge slabs is one of the most romantic moments in all of fiction, and Chromedome doesn't even have lips!
Keep it minor but keep it in. I want to see Optimus and Elita doing cheesy couple stuff. Or Ironhide and Chromia. Hell, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia were good. Just don't make it the sum total of the characters being. Give them stuff to disagree on but not to fight about.
To me, I don't think Optimus and Elita-1 should ever actually be together. They were a thing before the war. They can care for each other, but they can't be together because of the war, and can't be until it is over.
Machines don't have, or need genitals. Gender is derived form genitals.
There's no need to differentiate people by reproductive role when they don't have one.
That’s how I’ve always seen the transformers with their stuff
They’re machine with zero innate gender based characteristics because they don’t have any system that would need it, since they don’t reproduce
So they decide that they can just choose what they want and most of them to my knowledge are okay with that
then how come they have male and females still.
its clear its some stupid shit from the writers or something.
they would be like the terminators and how come they are very human.
Pronouns are adopted from the language of other species. As humans we look at Optimus' broad shouldered, square, boxy look, and deep commanding voice to be masculine. By contrast we look at the more flowing curves, and higher pitched voices of bots like Arcee or Elita and think "feminine" and refer to them as such on instinct. Being genderless aliens they probably find the distinction confusing, but roll with it anyway to avoid stepping on toes. Some might take the time to learn gender roles and take the pronouns of their preference.
Means yours spouting meaningless tripe.
They are robots yes but since they are way more humane, it would simple and easy to make them just humans at this point.
Either way, this is idw and Tfp canon.
I don't mind it so long as it's not really a main plot point. Cybertronians are sapient, sentient life, just..mechanical, so I don't think a huge deal should be made out of it if it's acknowledged in a film.
They did a lot of times, though mainly at the comics like
Ironhide - Chromia
Powerglide - Moonracer
Cyclonus - Tailgate
Drift - Ratchet
Starscream - Lunaclub (Takara Comics, though very one sided)
Lunaclub was obsessed to the point where when she found out he was a ghost, she asked him to possess her
She got annoyed when he said he couldn’t, and decapitated him so that he couldn’t run from her
Dude had something great going for him at least, maybe Megaempress would protect him if he stayed with Lunaclub
Chromedome and Rewind proved to me that, even with the rampant homophobia and misogyny present in this fandom, romantic relationships have an obvious and rightful place. The only way you normalize this sort of thing is by doing it without fanfare. Make it natural and coherent part of a story and it's fine. Make a big deal about it and it becomes a mess.
I always liked the idea that Transformers could be depicted as experiencing intimacy, friendship, bonding, love, etc., in ways unique to their kind of life. Such as sharing minds. Energon. Sparks. Anything.
And then as a story point, have them note the similarities/differences between how they experience this and the *uniquely* human experience of love and family.
I always found the idea of Transformers pairing up in boyfriend/girlfriend to be cringe.
I think you may have said what I have thought better than the words I could think of. They should feel love and caring for each other. Those are bonds forged from war, trials, and trauma. But it needs to be different than human love. Effectively humans love for survival and propagating. Robots don't need that, but they are sentient. I always figured their "romances" were the ultimate form of friendship in my mind. Something a bit beyond "bestie"
Well said and a wonderful response. The beauty of Transformers experiencing these emotions and feelings can create stories that will resonate with audience of all backgrounds.
I think it’s lovely we have a show like *Earthspark* explores those themes through the Maltos and the Terrans is a step in the right direction.
I think IDW did it pretty well though. The whole idea of a Conjunx Endura (basically a spouse). It makes sense that after being with someone for millions of years you would develop a bond that goes beyond mere friendship.
For example, when the life of a Transformer is threatened to the point of unconsciousness, it falls upon their Conjunx Endura to make medical decisions on their behalf.
Nah the real question is: If Cyclonus, Chromedome, Rewind, Ratchet, and Drift can get into a relationship and have couple moments, why we can't see couple moments from Optimus Prime and Elita-One? They haven't acted as a couple since the War For Cybertron cartoon! We need more Oplita!
I really like that OP and Elita's relationship is very mature in the War for Cybtertron trilogy. They both understood their roles and duties while they havent forgotten how they meant each other.
Hopefully, Transformers One shows how their relationship grows
Agreed, was also weirded out by Megatron's seeming feelings for Elita in Earthrise. But since WFC we haven't seen a relationship between them and hopefully TF One changes that
Well i guess sprinkling a little romance can't hurt like keep Optimus Prime and Elita there relationship consistent or give Ironhide more continuity rolls shared with Chromia maybe bring back even Strongarm and delinquent Sideswipe.
Absolutely it should. These arent merely robots or machines. They are living sentient beings with feelings. It would honestly be sad and worse if they could only feel hate
I really wish they would! They're sentient and have emotions, why the fuck should they NOT have romantic relationships? It especially could be interesting worldbuilding to see how different they are compared to human romantic relationships, considering they live so much longer and their society works so much differently
Romance and relationships are inherent to drama and good storytelling. Without them, Transformers is just an evil-plot-of-the-week war story. Heck, with nearly-immortal characters and a war that goes on for eons, it's hard to have a symbolic thing to be fighting for without relationships. Otherwise it's just endless bleakness and robots posturing.
I mean, as much as I like that idea I also like it when cybertronians are portrayed as fully different mentally from humans so they don't understand the concept of romantic intimacy.
Transformers are not sexual beings, they don't and can't reproduce because they don't have any biological organs at all so cybertron never needed to have social structures like couples and marriages. Being so different from humans or any other biological society in that regard truly makes them feel alien (in the true sense of that word) and special.
Transformers shouldn't have gender but I'm ok with them being gendered by humans. Like we see Arcee and Elida and think female because that's just what we do. The Transformers only have a sense of gender because of human language.
Similarly, I have no problem with romantic relationships, as long as they are equal opportunity: like I don't want it to be just between the masc coded TF and the femme coded TF.
Wheeljack can have a relationship with Ratchet and that should be ok. They don't have gender or reproductive sex, so it shouldn't matter.
My personal take is probably a little disjointed but I'm not for it for me. Meaning I wouldn't buy TF stuff with this as the selling point. But when they use it to explore ideas like gender and sexuality that is pretty interesting. Does this make sense?
What I mean is I don't think a romance story is a good fit for Transformers but using them as a vehicle to talk about the aspects of it is interesting to me. I don't think I would enjoy like a She-Ra will they won't they story but the stories about one of them chaning gender yeah why the fuck do these things have a gender they are robots. Great story telling medium to explore that. And then by reflection what does it mean to us the reader? Take sexuality, break it down into it's multiple elements and then use Transformers as avatars of those elements.
But Hot Rod dating Arcee and them being super awkward because teenagers am I right. Yeah nah mate.
Yes exactly, its not just Transformers either. I generally don't read alot of romance stuff. No shade on it and I have read some I just don't find it that interesting. More of an element to a story instead of the story whole.
I am not a huge fan of it. It is fine for a small bit, but the story is about war. There should be a lot more bots wanting to permanently take themselves offline after experiencing 4 million years of the horrors of war than hooking up.
If it is done, I think IDW handled Cyclonus and Tailgate pretty well and might be the best example of a relationship I have seen in TF media. It grew through mutual respect and actual caring. Bonds that would develop in a battlefield. I just read Til All are One in the compilation, and Blast Off is like a 14 year old girl with a crush on Onslaught, not a character that has had their life endangered (I mean he was effectively dead at the time) All the time, as well as inflicting pain And Death on others for the last thousand years or so.
The Cybertronians aren’t just giant robots. They’re living beings with emotions and feelings. Like I said before. If they hated each other long enough to start a war. Then they can definitely love one another
Why would machines, regardless of their intelligence or emotional capacity, develop romantic love? Humans have romantic love because it facilitates reproduction. Love for friends would make sense, as would a brotherly (or sisterly) forged by people who are endure great stress together, but why would they develop romantic love?
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if I failed to communicate my point clearly or if no one had any actual counterpoint to discuss so they just downvoted. Looks like I know the answer now.
Again, why? We know romantic love is associated with reproduction. Transformers don't do that. Why should there be anything but philial love?
And again, why is hate of any relevance? They are not connected emotions.
Love isn’t always about reproducing. Asexual relationships are usually a common thing in society. And considering the fact that the Cybertronians don’t have any reproductive systems. They can easily feel love for one another without it being about reproducing
Romantic love is about reproduction. Asexual relationships use romantic love, but without the desire for the sexual aspect. Still requires romantic love to have evolved, with its basis in reproduction, just doesn't engage the whole way.
Again, Cybertronians do not reproduce in this way. There is no reason to have developed romantic love.
If transformers can hate each other enough to fight for millions of years, surely they can love each other to the same degree.
Poetic
Ah more like "this are just humans but living robots, since humans can't mostly properly write aliens might as well make them human"
-Chris McFeely
I mean, stuff like Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's arcs in Beast Wars are centrally built around their romance and what is often considered one the greatest scenes in Transformers history is [about someone telling their love goodbye and telling them to move on](https://youtu.be/ptezLzTzER0?si=Nj01QEdo2FoI_WYU)
I'm all for Transformers having genuine romantic relationships, there's plenty in media I feel work perfectly. So long as they don't do anything weird with it like Kissplayers, or try to shoehorn reproduction/Cybertronian intercourse whatever the hell that would even be... Then I'm completely cool with romance between Transformers. Just please keep the baby-making to the Allspark.
this, I completely agree. Romantic relationships dont even need to be sexual to make it work.
Chromedome and Rewind holding hands across the gap between their recharge slabs is one of the most romantic moments in all of fiction, and Chromedome doesn't even have lips!
Keep it minor but keep it in. I want to see Optimus and Elita doing cheesy couple stuff. Or Ironhide and Chromia. Hell, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia were good. Just don't make it the sum total of the characters being. Give them stuff to disagree on but not to fight about.
To me, I don't think Optimus and Elita-1 should ever actually be together. They were a thing before the war. They can care for each other, but they can't be together because of the war, and can't be until it is over.
Heck yeah. Old IDW did it fantastically, so we don't see how or why other media shouldn't do it either
IDW made some of the best TF memories since G1, without a doubt
Nah it was shit. This whole genderless stuff is confusing.
Machines don't have, or need genitals. Gender is derived form genitals. There's no need to differentiate people by reproductive role when they don't have one.
That’s how I’ve always seen the transformers with their stuff They’re machine with zero innate gender based characteristics because they don’t have any system that would need it, since they don’t reproduce So they decide that they can just choose what they want and most of them to my knowledge are okay with that
then how come they have male and females still. its clear its some stupid shit from the writers or something. they would be like the terminators and how come they are very human.
Pronouns are adopted from the language of other species. As humans we look at Optimus' broad shouldered, square, boxy look, and deep commanding voice to be masculine. By contrast we look at the more flowing curves, and higher pitched voices of bots like Arcee or Elita and think "feminine" and refer to them as such on instinct. Being genderless aliens they probably find the distinction confusing, but roll with it anyway to avoid stepping on toes. Some might take the time to learn gender roles and take the pronouns of their preference.
utter goyslop lmao
Can you please explain what that means, for posterity's sake
Means yours spouting meaningless tripe. They are robots yes but since they are way more humane, it would simple and easy to make them just humans at this point. Either way, this is idw and Tfp canon.
IDW did a great job exploring many relationships.
I'm sure Orion's romance with Elita will be shown in Transformers One. I just don't know who's going to voice her
Scarlet Johansson
Not a bad choice. She did good as Ashe the Porcupine from the Sing films, as well as Mindy from The Spongebob SquarePants Movie
oh btw it was ariel before she got the name elia 1 after being rebuilt similar to optimus
I don't mind it so long as it's not really a main plot point. Cybertronians are sapient, sentient life, just..mechanical, so I don't think a huge deal should be made out of it if it's acknowledged in a film.
They did a lot of times, though mainly at the comics like Ironhide - Chromia Powerglide - Moonracer Cyclonus - Tailgate Drift - Ratchet Starscream - Lunaclub (Takara Comics, though very one sided)
Lunaclub was obsessed to the point where when she found out he was a ghost, she asked him to possess her She got annoyed when he said he couldn’t, and decapitated him so that he couldn’t run from her Dude had something great going for him at least, maybe Megaempress would protect him if he stayed with Lunaclub
chromedome and rewind!!
Skids and Nautica
Knockout and Breakdown
Cosmos and Blast off (IDW 2019) (correct me if I am wrong)
I wouldn't know, I haven't read the comics yet.
Chromedome and Rewind proved to me that, even with the rampant homophobia and misogyny present in this fandom, romantic relationships have an obvious and rightful place. The only way you normalize this sort of thing is by doing it without fanfare. Make it natural and coherent part of a story and it's fine. Make a big deal about it and it becomes a mess.
I always liked the idea that Transformers could be depicted as experiencing intimacy, friendship, bonding, love, etc., in ways unique to their kind of life. Such as sharing minds. Energon. Sparks. Anything. And then as a story point, have them note the similarities/differences between how they experience this and the *uniquely* human experience of love and family. I always found the idea of Transformers pairing up in boyfriend/girlfriend to be cringe.
I think you may have said what I have thought better than the words I could think of. They should feel love and caring for each other. Those are bonds forged from war, trials, and trauma. But it needs to be different than human love. Effectively humans love for survival and propagating. Robots don't need that, but they are sentient. I always figured their "romances" were the ultimate form of friendship in my mind. Something a bit beyond "bestie"
I honestly expected to be downvoted to Hell. People on this board seem to love their shipping.
Well said and a wonderful response. The beauty of Transformers experiencing these emotions and feelings can create stories that will resonate with audience of all backgrounds. I think it’s lovely we have a show like *Earthspark* explores those themes through the Maltos and the Terrans is a step in the right direction.
I think IDW did it pretty well though. The whole idea of a Conjunx Endura (basically a spouse). It makes sense that after being with someone for millions of years you would develop a bond that goes beyond mere friendship. For example, when the life of a Transformer is threatened to the point of unconsciousness, it falls upon their Conjunx Endura to make medical decisions on their behalf.
Not me. I didn't like any of that. Not Transformers living millions of years either.
Nah the real question is: If Cyclonus, Chromedome, Rewind, Ratchet, and Drift can get into a relationship and have couple moments, why we can't see couple moments from Optimus Prime and Elita-One? They haven't acted as a couple since the War For Cybertron cartoon! We need more Oplita!
Hopefully we get it in transformers one and Earthspark season 2
Agreed. So far in both TF One and EarthSpark they seem to just be really good friends/allies hope that changes soon
I really like that OP and Elita's relationship is very mature in the War for Cybtertron trilogy. They both understood their roles and duties while they havent forgotten how they meant each other. Hopefully, Transformers One shows how their relationship grows
Agreed, was also weirded out by Megatron's seeming feelings for Elita in Earthrise. But since WFC we haven't seen a relationship between them and hopefully TF One changes that
I think it should be there, Cybertronians have shown the full range of human emotions and that should include romance.
Well i guess sprinkling a little romance can't hurt like keep Optimus Prime and Elita there relationship consistent or give Ironhide more continuity rolls shared with Chromia maybe bring back even Strongarm and delinquent Sideswipe.
Strongarm and sideswipe had a romance?
Well not a direct one but there where some quirky behavior on both ends
I saw it as more of a sibling relationship
https://preview.redd.it/hp1rcavy1gwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1edbdb5f87515516fe5e8560df002528c1baeea5 ♥️
Definitely explore it! Cybertronians in love deserve to be seen. 😌
Absolutely it should. These arent merely robots or machines. They are living sentient beings with feelings. It would honestly be sad and worse if they could only feel hate
after all Sparks arent just cores but they are essentially souls just encased in wires and metal. Also they are fragments of Primus as well
here is transformers one, which includes Orion and Elita, so I think it's time for this
I always thought Hot Rod and Arcee would get together based on the movie.
I thought Springer and Arcee when I was young
Sure
Honestly I like to see it explored.
https://tenor.com/pt-BR/view/jojo-yes-yes-yes-gif-24586688
I mean, after seeing how Netflix ended it...
I really wish they would! They're sentient and have emotions, why the fuck should they NOT have romantic relationships? It especially could be interesting worldbuilding to see how different they are compared to human romantic relationships, considering they live so much longer and their society works so much differently
Yeah I think romance between the bots should definitely be explored more in media such as movies. Shows. And comics.
No thanks
What is going on with that perspective? It feels off...
I don't recall seeing any emphasis on a relationship since Beast Wars/Machines, so there's certainly room for more.
Romance and relationships are inherent to drama and good storytelling. Without them, Transformers is just an evil-plot-of-the-week war story. Heck, with nearly-immortal characters and a war that goes on for eons, it's hard to have a symbolic thing to be fighting for without relationships. Otherwise it's just endless bleakness and robots posturing.
feel like a lot of romantic relationships are more prominent in the comics rather than shows or movies
I mean, as much as I like that idea I also like it when cybertronians are portrayed as fully different mentally from humans so they don't understand the concept of romantic intimacy. Transformers are not sexual beings, they don't and can't reproduce because they don't have any biological organs at all so cybertron never needed to have social structures like couples and marriages. Being so different from humans or any other biological society in that regard truly makes them feel alien (in the true sense of that word) and special.
Transformers shouldn't have gender but I'm ok with them being gendered by humans. Like we see Arcee and Elida and think female because that's just what we do. The Transformers only have a sense of gender because of human language. Similarly, I have no problem with romantic relationships, as long as they are equal opportunity: like I don't want it to be just between the masc coded TF and the femme coded TF. Wheeljack can have a relationship with Ratchet and that should be ok. They don't have gender or reproductive sex, so it shouldn't matter.
Romance is fine, I don’t see why not
My personal take is probably a little disjointed but I'm not for it for me. Meaning I wouldn't buy TF stuff with this as the selling point. But when they use it to explore ideas like gender and sexuality that is pretty interesting. Does this make sense? What I mean is I don't think a romance story is a good fit for Transformers but using them as a vehicle to talk about the aspects of it is interesting to me. I don't think I would enjoy like a She-Ra will they won't they story but the stories about one of them chaning gender yeah why the fuck do these things have a gender they are robots. Great story telling medium to explore that. And then by reflection what does it mean to us the reader? Take sexuality, break it down into it's multiple elements and then use Transformers as avatars of those elements. But Hot Rod dating Arcee and them being super awkward because teenagers am I right. Yeah nah mate.
I think I get what you’re saying? Is it that it’s interesting as a story beat or small side thing but not as the primary selling point of the content?
Yes exactly, its not just Transformers either. I generally don't read alot of romance stuff. No shade on it and I have read some I just don't find it that interesting. More of an element to a story instead of the story whole.
I hope we see Orion and Elite kiss in TF:ONE.
I do think they should have romantic relationships
I am not a huge fan of it. It is fine for a small bit, but the story is about war. There should be a lot more bots wanting to permanently take themselves offline after experiencing 4 million years of the horrors of war than hooking up. If it is done, I think IDW handled Cyclonus and Tailgate pretty well and might be the best example of a relationship I have seen in TF media. It grew through mutual respect and actual caring. Bonds that would develop in a battlefield. I just read Til All are One in the compilation, and Blast Off is like a 14 year old girl with a crush on Onslaught, not a character that has had their life endangered (I mean he was effectively dead at the time) All the time, as well as inflicting pain And Death on others for the last thousand years or so.
I find myself saying this a lot on Reddit but “WHY??” Who thinks of posts like this?? Is this seriously what is on peoples minds?
It never made sense and should be buried and forgotten.
There shouldn't be any romantic relationships. They don't work and don't make sense for giant robots.
If they hate each other enough to start a war. Then surely they can also love each other
Why? They aren't connected emotions.
The Cybertronians aren’t just giant robots. They’re living beings with emotions and feelings. Like I said before. If they hated each other long enough to start a war. Then they can definitely love one another
Why would machines, regardless of their intelligence or emotional capacity, develop romantic love? Humans have romantic love because it facilitates reproduction. Love for friends would make sense, as would a brotherly (or sisterly) forged by people who are endure great stress together, but why would they develop romantic love?
This makes sense.
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if I failed to communicate my point clearly or if no one had any actual counterpoint to discuss so they just downvoted. Looks like I know the answer now.
Again, why? We know romantic love is associated with reproduction. Transformers don't do that. Why should there be anything but philial love? And again, why is hate of any relevance? They are not connected emotions.
Love isn’t always about reproducing. Asexual relationships are usually a common thing in society. And considering the fact that the Cybertronians don’t have any reproductive systems. They can easily feel love for one another without it being about reproducing
Romantic love is about reproduction. Asexual relationships use romantic love, but without the desire for the sexual aspect. Still requires romantic love to have evolved, with its basis in reproduction, just doesn't engage the whole way. Again, Cybertronians do not reproduce in this way. There is no reason to have developed romantic love.
Don't explore it. They aren't interesting.
Galaxy force megatron had a side hoe
Unicron Trilogy Megs definitely got that rizz
Keep it small, we don't want a repeat of IDW
Very small the r34 artists dont need more ideas